Reports coming in state that the social netwoking giant Facebook, which is going to offer its shares publicly this year, has reportedly chosen NASDAQ over the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) for its listing. It is said that the company will trade under the ticker symbol “FB.”

The reports also said that getting a company like Facebook on the list is a “significant coup” for NASDAQ, which has been “embroiled in a battle with the New York Stock Exchange for the darlings of Silicon Valley”. Shares of the NASDAQ OMX Group rose by 1 percent on Thursday to close at $25.52. Shares of NYSE Euronext fell about the same to close at $28.31.

NASDAQ houses large tech companies like Apple, Google, HP, and now Facebook. Facebook filed for its IPO on February 1st with the SEC, the same time when the social networking giant celebrated its 8th anniversary. Facebook is currently expected to go public in May, in what will be one of the biggest Internet IPOs of all time. It aims to raise close to $5 billion, in order to provide an exit to its existing shareholders, and get more cash to fuel its expansion spree.

The company is facing an increasing number of profile cases of user privacy infringement. Apart from that, due to the on-going recessions, the company fears that it would be undervalued which is the main reason why the company has delayed its offerings. However, the social networking giant is trying to increase the business side of the site. Last year, the total revenue was around $3.7 billion while the net income was nearly $1 billion.

It is expected to be the largest NASDAQ IPO since Google’s offering in 2004. Google raised $1.7 billion from its offering, and if Facebook’s valuations are correct, it would then become the largest NASDAQ offering putting the company at an estimated worth of $100 billion and also making it one of the most valuable company in the world alongside Apple and Google.

Joel Fernandes (G+) is a tech enthusiast and a social media blogger. During his leisure time, he enjoys taking photographs, and photography is one of his most loved hobbies. You can find some of his photos on Flickr.
He does a little of web coding, and maintains a tech blog of his own - Techo Latte.
Joel is currently pursuing his Masters in Computer Application from Bangalore, India. You can get in touch with him on Twitter - @joelfernandes, or visit his Facebook Profile for more information.